Health and Human Services News and Research

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Removing a splinter? Treating a wart? If a doctor does it, it can be billed as surgery

When George Lai of Portland, Oregon, took his toddler son to a pediatrician last summer for a checkup, the doctor noticed a little splinter in the child's palm.

13 Dec 2024

Long-term air pollution exposure linked to venous thromboembolism risk

A large study found that greater exposure to long-term air pollution was linked with increased risks for blood clots that can occur in deep veins, which, if untreated, can block blood flow and cause serious complications, even death.

12 Dec 2024

Patients couldn’t pay their utility bills. One hospital turned to solar power for help.

Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn't afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in.

12 Dec 2024

Former Montana health staffer rebukes oversight rules as a hospital ‘wish list’

A former Montana health department staffer who described himself as the lead author of legislation to scrutinize nonprofit hospitals’ charitable acts said new rules implementing the bill amounted to a hospital "wish list" and that the state needs to go back to the drawing board.

11 Dec 2024

Interim analysis of STOMP study finds no efficacy for tecovirimat in mild to moderate Mpox cases

The antiviral drug tecovirimat did not reduce the time to lesion resolution or have an effect on pain among adults with mild to moderate clade II mpox and a low risk of developing severe disease, according to an interim data analysis from the international clinical trial called the Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP).

10 Dec 2024

Single mutation in (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus could increase human transmission risk

A single modification in the protein found on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus currently circulating in U.S. dairy cows could allow for easier transmission among humans, according to new research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published today in the journal Science.

9 Dec 2024

$1.5 million grant supports alternatives to opioids initiative at University Hospitals

A grant of nearly $1.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will enable University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center to develop and implement an Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) program within its Emergency Department (ED).

6 Dec 2024

How measles, whooping cough, and worse could roar back on RFK Jr.’s watch

The availability of safe, effective covid vaccines less than a year into the pandemic marked a high point in the 300-year history of vaccination, seemingly heralding an age of protection against infectious diseases.

6 Dec 2024

Cancer prevention and screening avert more deaths than treatment advances

Improvements in cancer prevention and screening have averted more deaths from five cancer types combined over the past 45 years than treatment advances, according to a modeling study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

5 Dec 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A colorful cast could lead key health agencies

President-elect Donald Trump has continued naming out-of-the-box choices to lead key federal health agencies.

5 Dec 2024

Prenatal cfDNA testing uncovers hidden cancers in pregnant individuals

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found previously undetected cancers in 48.6% of pregnant people who had abnormal results for prenatal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing used to screen for chromosomal disorders in the fetus.

4 Dec 2024

Nursing home industry wants trump to rescind staffing mandate

Covid's rampage through the country's nursing homes killed more than 172,000 residents and spurred the biggest industry reform in decades: a mandate that homes employ a minimum number of nurses.

3 Dec 2024

California falling short of enrollment goal as mental health courts roll out statewide

California's new initiative to compel treatment for some of the state's most severely mentally ill residents — many of whom are living on the streets — is falling short of its initial objectives.

3 Dec 2024

University of Arizona receives $1.7 million for spina bifida research

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson received $1.7 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve knowledge regarding the prevalence, mortality and health outcomes for people of all ages living with spina bifida.

2 Dec 2024

CMS introduces new payment model to improve kidney transplant outcomes

A new final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week for a mandatory alternative payment model called the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model aimed to improve the number of life-saving kidney transplants for patients whose kidneys have failed.

2 Dec 2024

Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid

After losing and regaining the same 20-plus pounds more times than she could count, Anita Blanchard concluded that diets don't work.

2 Dec 2024

Trump doesn’t need Congress to make abortion effectively unavailable

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump tried mightily to reassure abortion rights supporters, vowing he would not sign into law a nationwide abortion ban even if Congress sent him one.

27 Nov 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public health and the dairy cow in the room

Public health, one of the more misunderstood concepts in the health world, is about the health of entire populations, rather than individuals.

26 Nov 2024

Indiana hospitals pull merger application after pushback over monopoly concerns

Two rival hospitals in Terre Haute, Indiana, pulled back their merger application Monday, just days before the state was due to rule on the deal amid growing backlash to such medical monopolies.

26 Nov 2024

Prenatal diet in line with USDA guidelines promotes healthy birthweights

Expectant mothers who maintain a diet that meets USDA dietary guidelines during pregnancy may be more likely to have infants with healthy birthweights, steadier growth patterns, and potentially a reduced risk of obesity later in childhood, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health.

23 Nov 2024

Health and Human Services News and Research

Removing a splinter? Treating a wart? If a doctor does it, it can be billed as surgery

Long-term air pollution exposure linked to venous thromboembolism risk

Patients couldn’t pay their utility bills. One hospital turned to solar power for help.

Former Montana health staffer rebukes oversight rules as a hospital ‘wish list’

Interim analysis of STOMP study finds no efficacy for tecovirimat in mild to moderate Mpox cases

Single mutation in (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus could increase human transmission risk

$1.5 million grant supports alternatives to opioids initiative at University Hospitals

How measles, whooping cough, and worse could roar back on RFK Jr.’s watch

Cancer prevention and screening avert more deaths than treatment advances

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A colorful cast could lead key health agencies

Prenatal cfDNA testing uncovers hidden cancers in pregnant individuals

Nursing home industry wants trump to rescind staffing mandate

California falling short of enrollment goal as mental health courts roll out statewide

University of Arizona receives $1.7 million for spina bifida research

CMS introduces new payment model to improve kidney transplant outcomes

Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid

Trump doesn’t need Congress to make abortion effectively unavailable

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Public health and the dairy cow in the room

Indiana hospitals pull merger application after pushback over monopoly concerns

Prenatal diet in line with USDA guidelines promotes healthy birthweights

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